Press Room

MFA Press Statement: Appointments of Singapore's High Commissioner to New Zealand and Singapore's Ambassador to the United States of America (21 June 2012)

The Government has appointed Mr Peter Chan Jer Hing as Singapore’s next High Commissioner to New Zealand and Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri as Singapore’s next Ambassador to the United States of America.

Mr Chan has a distinguished career since he joined the Singapore Administrative Service in 1970 as a cadet officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Development Board and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of National Development. He last served as Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand from November 2005 to March 2012. He will assume his appointment as High Commissioner to New Zealand on 2 July 2012. He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the Singapore Government in 1990.

Mr Chan was a President's Scholar and graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science honours degree in 1970 from the University of Singapore. He obtained a Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States in 1976. Mr Chan is married to Ms Diana Chan Ee Hoon. They have two sons.

Mr Mirpuri has a distinguished career in the Singapore Foreign Service since he joined the Singapore Administrative Service in 1984. He was Singapore's Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia from July 2006 to June 2012, Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia from 2002 to 2006 and Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia from 2000 to 2002. He will assume his appointment as Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States of America on 23 July 2012. He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2010.

Mr Mirpuri graduated with an Honours degree in Political Science from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1984. He has a Master of Arts from the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS). He attended management programmes at the Institute for Management Development (IMD) and Harvard Business School (HBS). He is married to Ms Gouri Uppal. They have a daughter and a son.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
21 JUNE 2012

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BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY

Mr Peter Chan Jer Hing was Singapore's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand from November 2005 to March 2012. He was also Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

Mr Chan was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1987-93; Second Permanent Secretary 1983-86), Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs (1993-2000), Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Development Board (2000-01) and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of National Development (2001-04). Mr Chan retired in 2004.

Mr Chan held other appointments concurrently at various times. He was the chairman of the Singapore General Hospital. He was a board member of the then Sembawang Corporation, and chairman of one of its subsidiaries, Sembawang Industrial Corporation. He was a board member of Temasek Management Services. He was a member of the board of directors of MediaCorp Pte Ltd.

Mr Chan was born in Singapore on 23 September 1947. He was a President’s Scholar and graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science honours degree in 1970 from the University of Singapore. He obtained a Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States in 1976.

He joined the Singapore Administrative Service in 1970 as a cadet officer and was assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While in the Foreign Ministry from 1970 to 1993, he served in New Delhi as First Secretary, in Washington DC as Minister-Counsellor/Deputy Chief of Mission; and in Ministry HQ as a Director, the Deputy Secretary, the Second Permanent Secretary and Permanent Secretary. He participated in the inception of APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and played a role in ASEAN’s development and diplomacy as a member of the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM).

Mr Chan was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the Singapore Government in 1990.

He is married to Ms Diana Chan Ee Hoon. They have two sons.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY

Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri was Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia from July 2006 to June 2012. He was Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia from 2002 to 2006 and High Commissioner to Australia from 2000 to 2002.

Mr Mirpuri joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in 1984. From 1987 to 1991, he was First Secretary (Political) at the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta. In 1994, he was appointed Director of MFA's Policy Planning & Analysis Directorate I (Southeast Asia). In 1997, Mr Mirpuri was seconded to Shell International Ltd in the United Kingdom as Corporate Advisor (Asia Pacific). He returned to the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta in 1998 as Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission.

Mr Mirpuri graduated with an honours degree in Political Science from the National University of Singapore. He received his MA at the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies under a Raffles Scholarship. He attended the Programme for Executive Development at the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, USA.

Mr Mirpuri was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the Singapore Government in 2010.

Mr Mirpuri is married to Ms Gouri Uppal. They have a daughter and a son.